Luther and Lutheranism

Martin Luther was eight years old when Christopher Columbus set sail from Europe and landed in the Western Hemisphere. Luther was a young monk and priest when Michaelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel in Rome...

ELCA Good Gifts Catalog

Assignment Process

Assignment completes candidacy for all people, including those ordained in another Lutheran church or Christian tradition, moving them toward first call and admittance to the appropriate roster in the ELCA...

Joint Observance

The ELCA Conference of Bishops' Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Liaison Committee and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs Committee commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation by signing a joint statement during a Lutheran-Catholic service of Common Prayer.

Reformation 500

Martin Luther posted his “Ninety-Five Theses” in Wittenberg on Oct. 31, 1517, and the resulting debate about Christian teaching and practice led to changes that have shaped the course of Western Christianity for almost 500 years.

Israeli Palestinian Conflict

The social message on “The Israeli/Palestinian Conflict” was adopted in 1989 and its description of the situation at that time and its specific resolutions for action are dated, yet it continues to provide a basic faith-based orientation to issues of the conflict. This orientation is grounded in our trust in the God revealed in Jesus Christ, who brings peace and desires justice for all. The message calls for confession of Lutheran involvement in past wrongs against the Jewish people, continued prayer and solidarity with all who suffer, the end of human rights abuses against Palestinians in the Israeli occupation, and the need for lengthy, sustained negotiations toward a just and lasting peace.

This message should be read in conjunction with more recent ELCA social policy resolutions and the 2009 ELCA Strategy on the Middle East “Peace Not Walls” that guide discernment and action in light of contemporary developments in the Middle East.

You can read or download the full social message on “The Israeli/Palestinian Conflict.”

This is Christ's church.

There is a place for you here.

We are the church that shares a living, daring confidence in God's grace. Liberated by our faith, we embrace you as a whole person--questions, complexities and all. Join us as we do God's work in Christ's name for the life of the world.